A friend shared this TED Talk with me today and I had to pass it on.  In this  TED Talk, educator Neosha Kashef describes how life in the sea requires animals to tolerate extreme pressures and how human divers are affected by these pressures.  She also discusses how rapid changes in pressure due to uncontrolled ascents can affect fish and humans. In the case of fish, this could be a fish caught on a line that is reeled to the surface; in the case of the diver, this could be a result of improper buoyancy or due to an emergency.   Rockfish having a bad day....i.e., barotrauma ..read more

Communicating the science of HUMAN induced climate warming The scientific consensus is clear: Surface and sea temperatures are increasing and this is due to human influence. How come a vocal minority still refuses to accept anthropogenic global warming? And how can YOU communicate the hard science to science deniers?  Well, the science is complex and many factors could affect earth's temperatures, including: orbital changes, sun activity, volcanos, deforestation... This leaves many climate change deniers with a caveat: "Planetary warming is a natural cycle that has occurred throughout ear ..read more

NM Hall, KLE Berry, L Rintoul, MO Hoogenboom (2015) Microplastic ingestion by scleractinian corals.  Fig 1. Marine debris like this fractures and becomes microplastic debris. Photo: NOAA Marine Debris Program THE MANY FACES OF MARINE DEBRIS Marine debris can be highly variable both in size and composition. Debris may represent large products, such as cargo containers lost from ships, as well as small microdebris no larger than  phytoplankton (10 micrometers)!  Since plastic debris are not broken down biologically they will fracture into smaller and smaller pieces and may take ce ..read more

Today, I am leaving for a research expedition into the remote, near-pristine ecosystem of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and the  .  This is a truly special place, where coral reef ecosystems have flourished largely in the absence of human activity.  Beyond the ecology, this area holds immense cultural significance to the Native Hawaiian people, and it is a blessing to be able to visit this sacred place as a scientist. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument was established in 2006 (later given the Hawaiian name of Papahānaumokuākea) and the ecosystem ..read more

We've been traversing the Papāhanaumokuākea Marine National Monument for over a week now--traveling from the Main Hawaiian Islands to French Frigate Shoals, Maro Reef, and now at Pearl and Hermes Atoll--and we've seen and learned so much.  With such a large undertaking into a remote place like the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, we are constantly reminded that our first priority is safety and health.  During our first days of transit from O'ahu to French Frigate Shoals we spent a lot of time familiarizing ourselves with safety protocols and emergency procedures--as ..read more

Corals are amazing organisms that have prospered in the shallow, nutrient poor seas of the tropical and subtropical oceans.  These animals, along with their symbiont algae have built the massive calcified structures and architechture that defines the ecosystems that bare their names.  Coral reefs are presented with many challenges in the Anthropocene--the epoch of man--and as coral ecologists we study how the physiology and genetics of corals change in response to changing environmental conditions; how corals are affected by disease and pathogens; and how the 3D&n ..read more

Cuba, the U.S.A., and the protection of coral reefs After a long divorce, the relationship between Cuba and the United States (U.S.) is entering a new chapter.  The U.S.-Cuba trade embargo of 1962 has had large impacts on the Cuban economy.  However, Cuba's isolation and attenuated coastal development and tourism has reduced human impacts on Cuban coral reefs.  Additionally, the Cuban government has advocated significant marine resource protection dating back to the 1990s.  This protection appears to have made a difference, and today many of the most pristine Caribbea ..read more

Image credit: The SXS (Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes) Project  This week, for the first time gravitational waves were confirmed to exist, confirming one of Einstein's most famous theories (1916): the theory of general relativity. These gravitational waves are ripples in space time--a concept by itself that forcibly elicits a "whoa" from even the most intelligent among us.  This discovery has been acclaimed as perhaps the most influential discovery of the last century, but what does it really mean?? And why am I talking about this--it has nothing to do with coral reefs?!  Well, y ..read more

Ocean acidification (OA) may be one of the most challenging things to communicate to the public. In principle, OA is quite simple--the ocean becomes acidic as more carbon dioxide (CO2) dissolves in seawater. However, chemistry is not always a strong suit for everyone, and the more complicated aspects of carbonate chemistry in seawater can be lost on even the most scientifically minded lay person. (Don't worry--Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute is here to help!)  I've been looking around for helpful resources that explain OA to the public--some are videos, some are blogs-- but in each cas ..read more